Andy Walker isn't fussed about Brendan Rodgers facing a touchline ban - because Scottish football has much bigger things to worry about.

The Celtic boss learned on Thursday that he will sit out this weekend's clash with Livingston before returning to the dugout for Rangers at Ibrox a week later after being handed a two-game ban with one of those suspended. The Parkhead club accepted the verdict that will let him return to the touchline for the derby but say they are disappointed and will continue to call for change surrounding the 'VAR process' in Scottish football.

The ban Rodgers has been hit with was for his scathing rant after their defeat to Hearts where he called out VAR John Beaton by name and hit out at 'incompetent' officiating. But Walker feels it's only taken the focus away from some of the bigger issues facing Scottish football - namely that there will be no away fans at Ibrox next weekend.

Asked about the situation on Go Radio, Walker unloaded: "The big embarrassment will be when we go to Ibrox and there's no away fans. And then a few weeks later, we'll have a game at Celtic Park with no away fans. Both clubs are a huge embarrassment getting into that position.

"I wouldn't overplay the status of a manager on a matchday. I think the worst thing Brendan Rodgers would miss would be the half-time involvement, where obviously you've had your 45 minutes and you might want to tweak one or two things. I played in Old Firm games where Billy McNeill sat in the director's box, all the preparation was done during the week. We didn't really need to look over."

And he went on: "This whole one or two game ban, it's a non-story. There's a much bigger picture about VAR and the use of VAR. Celtic, it would have been great if they'd come out and said they were going to have a meeting with all the clubs, and the SFA, and the head of referees, and try to make things better.

"If you remember recently, all the clubs were concerned about the handballs. It seemed to work really well for a month or six weeks, and then we've gone back and simplified it. And we've gone back to the madness. That, in my view, is the much bigger story."

Former Rangers winger Jamie Murphy joined him on the panel and tried to bring the conversation back around to the ban. He siad: "Rodgers is a really smart man. He knows what he's doing on the sideline and he knows what he's doing in interviews. I'll ask this question to Peter: would he have said what he said if Rangers were the next game?"

But Walker wasn't having it as he powered on: "It's an interesting one because it happened so long ago and then they set the meeting for whatever date (Thursday March 28), and you would then get a decision on the next two games. He mentioned (VAR) John Beaton by name, he didn't mention Don Robertson, but listen, there's a bigger story. This idea of Rodgers being at Ibrox or not is not the biggest story we have to contend with."